Birds Of Prey: Nesting Instinct
by Blisterdude
Summary: Black Canary rejoins the Birds of Prey as they settle in Platinum Flats with the aim of rebuilding her relationships with the crew and a particular former-Batgirl. Follow their lives in a city where business is crime and they struggle to protect a populace that doesn't want them. Will mostly be a series of stand-alone episodes that will be connected by an arcing plot.
1. Back In Town

Dinah sighed, as the thugs bustled around her. They were clearing out the warehouse pretty quickly now that two costumes had 'stumbled' onto their smuggling base. She tested the ropes binding her to the chair again. Wouldn't be too hard to get free, the chair was old. Break the chair and the ropes'd come loose easy.

She chewed on the rag in her mouth thoughtfully, noting with a hint of respect that they'd thought to at least gag her properly. The amount of bad guys who just pulled a cloth between her teeth or slapped a bit of tape over her mouth still these days, she chuckled at the thought of their faces when she used her canary cry and all their plans crumbled before their eyes. She liked that look, the moment they realised they were screwed. If she couldn't use her tongue though, she couldn't use her cry. Simple enough, really. The scarf pulled tightly over her mouth and nose ensured she couldn't force the rag out.

'…I mean how could you be so stupid, I told you it was a trap, _you_ of all people, you knew it was a trap, now I've got to get hold of one of the others to try and get you…'

'Mmmpph-mmrrpphh.' Dinah rolled her eyes.

'…and this is how you announce you're coming back? Most people might drop in and say hello and after the way you left last time I wasn't sure you'd come back at all-'

'Mrrpphh!' Dinah retorted.

'I did not have Manhunter spying on you for my own personal-…I…I did _not_ have Manhunter spying on you!'

Barbara was still berating her in her ear through the comms. She'd been going at it for the last fifteen minutes. What Dinah had been unable to tell her before she'd _allowed_ herself to be captured, was that Misfit was here. On seeing the Birds' surrogate in the hands of the armed criminals, she'd decided then and there that to hurl herself into the fray was too much of a risk. So she'd crept too close, all but giving herself away to the smugglers and their, admittedly pathetic, security and let one of their sentries 'coldcock' her.

This wasn't how she'd intended to reacquaint herself with Barbara and the rest of the crew in Platinum Flats. After the last time she and the Oracle had spoken, after Dinah had battered Manhunter senseless, she'd been racking her brains for a way to reconnect with her old friends. Mostly because she knew Barbara wanted to, but wouldn't make any move herself. The woman could be infuriating, but Dinah recognised having a killer observe her and Ollie in Star City, while somewhat warped and twisted, was her friend's only way of showing that she was missed without openly showing that she was missed.

'I think I can get hold of Huntress, maybe _she_ can manage not to get captured by a bunch of Saturday-morning special henchmen…' Barbara quipped sarcastically.

That was Babs, all wrapped in a suit of armour made of wit, sarcasm, detachment and occasional…bitchiness.

'Mmnn-rrmmph.' Dinah grunted.

Barbara clammed up. Dinah could almost hear the cogs and gears grinding as she began thinking.

'Charlie hasn't come home yet…'

'Mmmhmmn?' Dinah retorted, sarcastically.

There was a brief pause.

'Oh bloody hell! I'm going to kill that girl myself when you get her home!' Barbara yelled.

Dinah chuckled to herself at her friend's outburst.

She was waiting for the smugglers to finish loading whatever truck they had out the front. The last load of goods would see most of them out of the warehouse and the fewer of them in here, the better the odds she had of dealing with them without risking Misfits' safety.

Barbara would have a fit when she finally got Charlotte home. Dinah wasn't sure she wasn't going to have it out with the girl herself. She had the power to teleport herself anywhere, but it was rather dependent on her ability to control her emotions. And being a teenage girl with, Dinah recalled sourly, raging hormones and the like that was probably hard enough at the best of times. She might be able to teleport, but from what she understood in her current state of mind, she might wind up in a wall, or inside a tree, or on the moon.

Like now, she thought, looking over at the younger girl. She was tied to a chair the same way as Dinah though she'd been gagged with a rag pulled taut between her teeth. She looked nervous, eyes glancing about frantically. She needed to get her to calm down. Dinah took a breath, and with the air of a practised veteran, scraped her chair steadily, if painfully slowly, over to the younger heroine. Misfits eyes lit up visibly as she closed the distance. With a last grunt of effort, she scraped her chair around so she was back to back with the girl.

Dinah sighed as Charlie fumbled to grasp her hands, she clasped them, hoping to reassure her. She wished Charlie could get a handle on her emotions, she wasn't weak, she was strong, she was brave, she had potential, but while she was so…unstable she was a danger to herself.

Glancing around, she saw the smugglers still too preoccupied with their work to bother watching the two heroes. Sloppy, she thought. Taking a deep breath, she put her plan into action. It was true that, while gagged, she couldn't use her canary cry to its full effect, but she could still utilise its power to an extent. Dinah exhaled, slowly, the basic force of her gift still in effect. It caused consistent, but firm vibrations in the air that she could focus.

Dinah did so now, the air rippled gently, she felt her gag shake, the knot at the back of her head loosened gradually. She felt a few beads of sweat break out on her forehead with the strain, but was rewarded as the knot came loose.

'Mrruugghh.' She grunted in relief.

'Rrrgghh?' Charlie questioned.

Dinah rubbed her cheek against her shoulder, satisfied as the scarf slid down from her mouth to hang around her neck. She spat the wad of cloth onto the floor, licking her lips against the dryness. She turned her head to look at Misfit. The red-haired teen was looking increasingly worried, Dinah was beginning to worry, maybe there was something else going on.

'Okay sweetie, I need you to look at me. I need you to focus on me.'

'Rrrngh-hhrgh.' She nodded.

'You can get out of this, I know you can. You just need to relax, alright?'

'Is she okay?' Barbara's voice came through again, concern evident in her voice.

'She's alright Babs, and she'll be home soon, won't you Charlie?' Dinah smiled, exuding confidence and assurance. She saw Charlotte visibly soften and relax. She nodded.

'Okay, so can you do your teleporting thing and get yourself out of here? I'll finish up here and meet you back home, how's that sound? I might even beat up big bad Babs for you if she gets all up in your face, huh?'

Barbara giggle-snorted over the comms and Misfit managed a smile, despite their precarious situation.

'You're on thin ice as it is, Canary, don't make me clip your wings too.'

Dinah rolled her eyes again, making a mock-nagging face. Charlotte grinned. She watched the girl shut her eyes and then…vanish, leaving an odd purplish haze and a pile of ropes where she had once been.

'Neat.'

Now free of distraction, she put her effort toward getting free. The handy thing about being unconscious, or at least appearing to be, when the bad guys tied you up was that the knots were never as tight as they could be if you were fighting it. There was always some lax the bonds and if, like the Canary, you'd been training your physical prowess since a very young age with an old vigilante who knew your mother, who herself used to be a bit of a superhero whose title you inherited, you just needed to know how to apply pressure in the right way and…

'Easy.' Dinah grunted as the ropes came loose. She rubbed her wrists before untying the ropes around her thighs and ankles.

'Hey!'

She looked up as she got to her feet, several thugs had stopped their frantic evacuation and gathered around her.

''sup fellas.' She grinned, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

'How did-…where-…where'd the other one go?'

'Oh she's such a flighty thing, they always are at that age.' Dinah cracked her knuckles, eagerly. Some of the thugs had the decency to look apprehensive.

'Boss, don't you recognise her?'

The 'leader' looked her up and down.

'Dressed like that? Table dancer? Dominatrix?' He smirked. 'Like the neo-biker chick thing. Great legs too.'

The men around him gaped, suddenly much, much _more_ worried. Especially as Dinah shifted into a fighting stance.

Barbara bawled with laughter over the comms.

'Thanks for the support, four-eyes.' Dinah

'Well, you _do _have great legs.' Barbara replied, idly.

'I-…what?' Dinah blurted, momentarily thrown.

'Say, Misfit's back, would you look at that. Time for me to do the telling-off thing. See you later?'

'Yeah, sure.' Dinah turned back to assembled thugs. 'Okay guys, it's been fun and all, but let's make this quick.' She dug her feet in with a grin and braced herself as they rushed at her.

…

'_…and reports seem unable to conclude as to the cause of the explosion or the collateral damage to the warehouse in the industrial district, officers on the scene arrived to find the remnants of a smuggling operation. Gang members offered no resistance and many arrests were made. Passers-by only seem to mention hearing a strange, high-pitched sound preceding the explosion, is this evidence of more meta-human involvement in the new-industry capital of the world? Is it benign or malicious? Only time will tell, next up, we…'_

'Did you hear that?' Charlotte gushed. 'Canary must've given 'em hell.

'No changing the subject, missy. You're still in trouble.' Barbara wagged a finger at the girl. Inwardly, she was exasperated at the girl's antics. She shut the TV off and wheeled herself over to the sofa, where the other girl was sat.

Barbara had no idea what to do with her, she wasn't her mother. And though the Birds had taken her under their collective 'wing', none of them besides her were really there as a consistent guardian-figure, except maybe Helena. The others came and went a lot, it couldn't be good for the girl. She needed real guidance. She'd had Charlotte enrol in a local high-school. It was something, at least, and a work in progress.

Despite all that, she didn't have the heart to send Charlotte away, to put her into care. She did care for the young would-be crimefighter. The worry was that if she did, Charlotte might just strike out on her own and get hurt, with nobody there to back her up. At least with the Birds, she had that. She was coming to the end of her tether, she had no real right to tell Charlotte what to do or how to behave.

And now Black Canary had come back, Dinah was back. Sort of. Maybe. She wasn't sure. She still wasn't sure how she felt about it, fully. Tonight was the first they'd spoken since Canary had caught Manhunter observing her on her orders. _Checking up on_, she corrected herself._ On her and Oliver collectively,_ she corrected herself again. And now she was in Platinum Flats without a word, and Barbara wasn't sure why. Was there something wrong? Were things off between her and Oliver again? She bit down the little, self-satisfied voice that was yelling '_good_' at that thought. Or was there something else? Or-

'I'm sorry.' Charlotte mumbled. 'I just…I want to do more. And I can take care of myself, I just wasn't-'

'-ready.' Barbara cut in, harsher than she'd intended. She sighed. 'Which is exactly what I…what _we_ are trying to make you, but you need to let us, you need to be patient.'

Charlotte was sat on the couch with her legs crossed, looking down as she fiddled her thumbs. Barbara bit her lip, then reached out and took the girls hands in hers. She was heading into uncharted territory without a map and she knew it. Charlotte's gaze snapped upward to her, searchingly.

'I was…worried about you, okay? I know it's not easy, but I need you to bear with…with us.'

Barbara winced as the girl looked increasingly uncomfortable. She retracted her hands, wondering if she'd pressed too far, then berated herself for that as Charlie recoiled a little. She was horrible at this.

The comm crackled into life from her desk, Barbara fought hard to suppress her relief. She wheeled back to her monitor, retrieving her headset.

'Hey, you gonna let me in to your new secret lair or do I need to kick down all the doors again?'

'I'd rather you didn't, you tore the hinges out last night and I'm not really one for DIY.' Barbara replied. She punched a few keys on the keyboard. 'Come on up, Di.'

The door to the study swung open, revealing Black Canary in all her…splendour. She was covered head to toe in dust, dirt and debris. Her jacket was torn and her fishnet stocking had holes in them but despite it all, she stood with her hands on her hips with the widest smile on her face.

'Fucking-' Charlotte gaped.

'Hey!' Barbara snapped.

'I was just saying…' Charlotte shrugged.

'…the hell happened to you, Dinah?' Barbara muttered, looking her old friend up and down.

'We had a bit of a barney.' She grinned, slapping her shoulders in a cloud of dust as she entered the room. 'Feeling better Charlie?'

'Yeah…um…thanks for coming after me.' Charlotte stared fixedly at her feet, twiddling her thumbs again. Barbara blinked, was she blushing?

'You'd have done the same for me.' Dinah ruffled the girl's hair affectionately.

'Alright, well, it's late and you're not getting out of school tomorrow Charlie, so…' Barbara began.

'Yeah, yeah. I'm goin'.' Charlotte mumbled, getting to her feet. 'Are you staying?' She asked, turning to Dinah.

Dinah paused, mouth half open. She could feel Barbara's gaze on her, waiting on her answer.

'I…I'll be here tomorrow.' She answered honestly.

Charlotte mumbled a 'goodnight' and left the two women. Dinah turned back to Barbara, much more aware of the tension, and the space, between them now. She wondered if Barbara felt as edgy as she did, or whether that was just wishful thinking. She decided to make the first move.

'Clocktower Systems, huh?'

'I wanted to set down roots here for the team, and for Charlie.' She shrugged. 'All the girls are on file as employees, it's a good cover and it helps finance us. I wanted to be-…' Barbara looked away, fiddling with her glasses.

'Be what?'

'Near.' She replied, curtly. Dinah wanted to press the issue, but thought they were treading on thin ice as it was, so decided against it.

'So, where are the others? How are they?' She asked, changing the topic.

'Everyone has accommodation here, but by now most of the others have their own places in the Flats as well. Personal space and all that. They're all good though. Helena and Zinda'll be happy to see you, and Charlie's missed you a lot.'

'I've missed her a lot, all of you, really.' She ran a hand through her hair, trying to ignore the lumps of dirt and grit that tumbled out as she did. 'Have…uh…you…I've…missed you.' She managed, silently cursing her tongue for betraying her.

Barbara was surprised, Dinah was one of the most forthright people she knew, she always spoke her mind, and here she was stumbling over her words. She obviously had a lot on her mind. She wanted her back, she'd wanted her back for a long time, but now she was here all she could feel was bitterness that she'd left to begin with.

'Why did you come back, Dinah.' She asked, bluntly.

Dinah didn't flinch at the question, she'd been expecting it. Dreading it, really. She crossed her arms, looking out the window.

'Why did you move here?'

They held each other's gaze.

'I told you why.'

Dinah felt her temper fray, sometimes Babs could be utterly infuriating.

'If you don't even trust me enough to tell me why you chose to come here, why you had Manhunter spying on me a few months ago, why should I trust you?'

'Are you saying you don't trust me anymore?'

'I didn't say that!' She retorted, louder than she'd intended. 'What about you, don't you trust me anymore? Does it matter why I came back?'

'It does to me.' Barbara replied, patiently.

'What do you want from me Babs? Do you want me to tell you I can't be around Oliver anymore? Do you want me to tell you we can't go a day without a fight about the fact he can't keep it in his pants? Do you want me to tell you my fucking life feels like it's coming apart at the seams? Maybe you want to know the only time I felt like me, the only time I felt like everything made sense was when I was with the team, with you? Maybe you want to know I wanted to come back because…fuck.' She laughed bitterly, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.

'I'm…um…' Barbara began. The guilt squirmed in her chest, she knew they'd both played a part in getting themselves to where they were now, and she knew that she should be apologising as much as her friend was trying to now. After all, though she'd never admit it to anyone, one of the main reasons she had moved here was to be near-

'I'm sorry, Babs.' The woman sniffed, wiping her eyes again. 'Here I am rambling away and I haven't even asked how _you've_ been…'

'Are you…okay?' Barbara asked, chiding herself for how lame it sounded. She winced as Dinah wiped her eyes again. Making her mind up, she wheeled closer to the woman and after a moments indecision, took her friends hands in hers, guiding the blonde down till she was knelt level with herself. 'Your eyes are…uh…' Barbara stuttered, cringing at how red they were.

'I…um…' Dinah laughed a little. 'I rubbed in a load of dirt and grit, I'm such an idiot.' She laughed again.

Barbara began laughing too, despite all that had passed before. Soon they were both laughing together, and crying, and giggling and sobbing. Barbara pulled her friend into a hug, holding her head to her chest. Dinah wrapped her arms around her. God how she'd missed this…

'I'm sorry.'

'I'm sorry too.'

Dinah felt better in the arms of her friend than she'd felt for a long time. She hoped they could start rebuilding their relationship

Barbara ran a hand through Dinah's long blonde hair, wishing they could stay like this forever.


	2. Getting Reacquainted

'You're back!'

Dinah had barely sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal before Zinda barrelled into her from behind. Barbara had put her up in one of the spare rooms for the night, as well as offering her a change of clothes. Thinking she'd have the morning to herself, she hadn't even dressed, remaining in the long nightshirt and her underwear that she'd slept in. The two crashed to the floor, with the time-displaced aviator pinning her to the ground with a grin.

Zinda was clad in her usual uniform. Thinking about it, she wasn't sure she could recall the wartime-pilot wearing anything else.

'How's tricks, Blake?' Dinah kicked the energetic blonde upward, flipping her over onto her back before springing upward and pinning her down.

'You play dirty, Di.' Zinda laughed, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

'I play to win.'

The two rolled apart at the sound of somebody clearing their throat.

'Are you going to tear apart my home every time you meet one of the others? …assuming it was fighting you were doing.' Barbara wheeled into the room, eyebrow raised at the state of the two, particularly Dinah's state of…undress. 'I only ask because I know what you and Helena are like and I don't think the building could stand up to that kind of punishment.'

'You worry too much Barbara.' Zinda drawled, getting to her feet.

'I think I worry an adequate amount.'

'Where is Helena anyway?' Dinah asked, taking her seat again.

'She's got a teaching job at Charlie's school. Helps to have somebody nearby to keep any eye on her too.'

'School?' Dinah rubbed the back of her head, thoughtfully. 'What time _is_ it?'

'Nearly midday.' Zinda answered, pulling up a seat across from her.

'I didn't want to wake you.' Barbara piped up, seeing Dinah's confusion. 'After last night…' She trailed off, seeing the meaningful gaze the blonde shot her.'…I mean, after you busted those smugglers, must've tired you out.'

'That was you, huh? Nice work, shoulda known.' Zinda grinned, then narrowed her eyes. Dinah flinched as she reached out and pulled her long fringe aside. 'Blimey, one of them did a number on you.'

'No, that was me.' She smiled weakly. She'd noticed the bruising that had flared up overnight when she'd had a shower that morning. 'Got a bit careless with my cry, when I put a…hole in a wall.'

Zinda let out a sharp laugh and even Barbara stifled a chuckle.

'Well, I'm off out. There's this wicked place with loads of virtual 'game' things,' Zinda made air quotes as she spoke. ', and I want to see if any of those kids've beaten my scores yet.' She all but skipped out of the room with a wave.

Dinah looked at her wheelchair-bound friend in disbelief.

'She found an arcade the other week.' She shrugged. 'Like a kid in a candy store.'

'Well she hasn't changed.' Dinah chuckled.

They lapsed into an uneasy silence, neither able to meet the other's gaze. Barbara picked at the armrest of her chair, watching Dinah watching the bowl of cereal before her intently. She bit her lip as the blonde shifted in her seat on the high stool, causing the soft fabric of the nightshirt she was wearing to lift, revealing the curve of her shapely thigh and her black panties for a second, before slipping back down again. Barbara felt her heartbeat quicken for some reason and she felt a peculiar…tingling, and the blood threaten to flush her cheeks as her under-dressed friend eyed her suspiciously before looking away quickly.

'So..um…' Barbara began, wanting to push whatever just happened behind her. '…are you feeling better this morning? Do you want to…talk about anything?'

Dinah ran a hand through her hair, sending it cascading down her shoulders. The motion sent a rush down her spine and…_whywasitdoingthat?_ She'd never…reacted to her friend before but right now for some reason everything about her was…

'Not right now.' The woman replied, looking up from the table. 'I need to think about things a bit, I couldn't do that there…but if …if you'll have me back I can do that here.'

_If_? Barbara quashed the wince that almost crossed her features. She'd wanted nothing more than Dinah to come back ever since she left and she was giving the impression it was still an _if_? She knew she wasn't good at…emoting but…was she really coming off as such a bitch? Part of her wanted to just wave her arms and tell her friend to never leave again, but she couldn't. It wasn't as simple as that, she led this team, she had to be a fixed point for them, she had to be a consistent voice for a group of disparate, dynamic and sometimes conflicting individuals. She couldn't let her personal needs cloud that.

'You're a part of the team.' She replied, as warmly as she dared.

A gentle smile curled Dinah's lips as she looked back at the table, her hair falling about her face. She looked beautiful. Barbara always thought she'd looked beautiful. Her mind raced, what she couldn't figure out was why it was having a…different effect on her now.

'A part of the team, huh?'

'I-' Barbara began, feeling the need to say something else when an alarm rang out. 'Shit.' She hissed.

'What's that all about.' Dinah asked, getting to her feet and following the rapidly retreating form of her friend.

'I'm tapped into the cops comm chatter.' She explained as they made their way through the building, into an empty set of offices.' I designed a program to alert me whenever an APB is put out. It's picked something up.'

Barbara grabbed a laptop off a nearby desk, causing Dinah to giggle. She was sure Barbara had computer hardware tactically located within arms-reach throughout the building. The redhead turned, questioningly.

'Sorry, carry on.' She raised her hands defensively.

'You might want to get dressed, unless you're planning on going to work dressed like that?'

'Do you think it'd be distracting?' Dinah put her hands on her hips, with a 'don't sass me' expression on her face that made Barbara's stomach do flip-flops.

'…hard to say.' She made a show of looking thoughtful, aware that she was using the opportunity to drink in her friend's body. 'I mean, I heard how you dress anyway, I heard a guy say you dress like a table-dancer.' She grinned. _God_, what was she doing? _Was she flirting?_

'_Meeeoooow._' Dinah purred, making a cat's paw gesture. Barbara's skull was buzzing, _was Dinah flirting?_

_Were they flirting?_

She watched as Dinah strolled back towards the team's personal-quarters. Barbara hadn't felt so troubled in a long time. The moment she realised she was checking out the blonde's behind as she went did little to allay her inner turmoil.

…

'Carface?'

'Yup.

'…Carface?'

'Yup.'

'And this guy is…he's a car.'

'Yup.'

Barbara heard Dinah erupt into laughter over the comms.

'So...' She regained her breath. 'Carface?'

…

Helena took a sip of tea as she reclined lazily in the beaten old chair in the staffroom. The things she did for Barbara. So she was a qualified teacher anyway, it's not like it was any extra work, and it did get her out on her own…mostly, for a while. But high-school kids did her head in.

Her thoughts turned to her old friend, the black-clad blonde vigilante who had made her see the value in being part of a team. Who'd taught her how to work with others, to trust others. The one who'd nearly ripped it all out from under her when she left. Not that she personally had a problem with Dinah for leaving, Helena always felt like she kept one foot out the door, she had no problem with Dinah putting the other foot out either. She had her reasons, whatever they were.

Charlie hadn't liked it though, and Babs…Babs had gone out of her way not to react at all, which to her just screamed how much it had hurt her when Black Canary had left. But last night she'd apparently returned, rather unannounced, and pulled Charlie out of a scrape along the way. Helena had felt Barbara depending more and more on her to hold the team together since the move to the Flats, but she wasn't Dinah. She couldn't be Dinah, not even for Barbara.

Things had been quiet around here lately, this could be good, it might help them reconnect easier without having to worry about-

Helena found her train of thought rudely interrupted when the wall exploded. Instinctively, she threw herself to the floor, ducking the mass of dust and shattered brick and debris that flew across the room with the force of the blast. As the smoke cleared she saw, through the new gaping hole in the wall, all hell breaking loose outside. Police squad-cars had drawn up at either end of the long road out front of the school. She clambered to her feet, helping those of her colleagues who remained in the room out.

She declined their insistence that she leave with them, making up a reason about going back to check for others. She shed her purple suit-jacket, stuffing it in one of the lockers allocated for staff usage. Teachers were encouraged to keep changes of clothes on hand, in case of…well…anything really. Most probably didn't have anything quite like _this_, though, she thought as she changed into her Huntress costume.

…

'What's going on out there?'

'Shit, looks like a battle.'

'Cops everywhere, and-…hey, that's Black Canary!'

Charlie was pressed against the windows with the rest of the class. The teacher was trying to get them out of the classroom, but nobody was listening. Outside, a guy who looked a bit like a truck was going toe-to-toe with a blonde woman in a black leather one-piece and fishnets. It was hard to tell who had the upper-hand at the moment. Charlie felt the itch to get out there and help grow by the second, but…

The image of a glowering Barbara and Helena looming over her haunted her imagination. They'd pulled a lot of strings to get her into school here and if she just went out there as Misfit it'd raise a few questions about where Charlie had gone, and…

She gaped as Huntress whipped into the fray with her grappling gun.

_The hell with this, _she thought, as they were finally ushered out to safety by the staff, _if Helena can do it, so can I._

Nobody noticed as one student among many vanished in a blink.

…

'So about Carface…' Dinah grunted, ducking a steel fist.

'About Carface?'

'Not Carface, Truckface, maybe Hummerface.'

'…Hummerface?' Barbara replied, hesitantly.

'Quite…' She leapt upward, gracefully slipping into a roll as she dodged another weighty steel fist. '…possibly.' She finished.

'I'm tapping into the local CCTV, hang on, let me just…oh.'

'…oh?' Dinah laughed sharply.

Barbara furrowed her brow as she saw Carface or…Hummerface and Dinah staring each other down on the monitors before her. He was a lot bigger than the last time they'd dealt with him, when Helena had given him a pasting. He had a chrome-bronzed look to him now, stood about twice the size and had more…vehicle-ish qualities.

'So you're the Black Canary huh, thought you'd be tougher.'

'Stick around auto-head, I like to see what my opponents are capable of before I commit to a fight.'

'I might'a been beaten once before, but I upgraded, and nothin' can stop me-'

He didn't get to finish his rant as a blue/purple streak collided with the side of his head, sending him careening to the floor in a crash of scrapes and sparks. Dinah lowered her hand to see Huntress standing in his place, smug as hell.

'Hey Di, need a hand?'

'Hel!' The two embraced in the street, ignoring the curses and protests of the car…man…thing behind them. Dinah wrapped her arms around the slighter woman, lifting her off her feet in a tight hug. 'I've missed you!'

'Missed you too, Canary.' Helena managed, once she had her feet on the ground again.

Barbara watched the two, trying to ignore the spike of…_was that jealousy? Was she jealous? Why would she be jealous, what did she possibly have to be jealous a-_

'…*ahem*' She crushed the renegade thoughts, telling herself she was interrupting the two for the sake of pragmatism. 'As much as I loathe interrupting this reunion, there is still a man-car threatening a school full of kids.'

'Sorry Oracle.' Helena replied, knowingly.

The redhead flinched. She only ever called her that these days when she wanted her to know she knew something. And nothing, to Barbara, was more dangerous than a Helena Bertinelli who thought she knew something.

'…right, anyway, wrap this up you guys.' She finished, a little sharply.

Dinah glanced at Helena questioningly, but the dark-haired woman only shrugged in reply. She had an idea what that was all about, but it wasn't her place to make guesses.

''sup guys?'

They both jumped as Charlie appeared beside them, in her full Misfit regalia.

'…Cha-…_Misfit?_' Helena hissed, looming over her.

'M-…Misfit? Did you say Misfit? Is Charlie there? What the hell is Charlie doing there?!' Barbara yelled over the comms.

'Is that Barbara? Say I said hi!' She jumped excitedly.

'I'll give her 'hi', I'll give her bloody-' Barbara began.

'Babs says…hi.' Dinah chuckled.

They all turned as the artist formerly known as Carface dragged himself to his feet. In the distance either side of them, the police began to close in.

'Okay, lets finish this, Misfit, get your ass back ins-…where'd she go.' Helena looked around frantically.

Dinah tapped her shoulder, gesturing at the mediocre criminal. Misfit had appeared on his shoulders.

'Misfit!'

The teen ignored them, turning to the villain instead.

'So, you're like, a robot or something right? I mean, you're not exactly alive or anything, you're not…biological matter?'

'What's that got t' do with-'

The two vanished in the blink of an eye.

'…um…'

'So…she seems to be coming along well…' Dinah turned to look at the momentarily off-balance Huntress.

'Do you hear that?'

Dinah listened.

'Sounds like somebody screaming.'

The scream grew, and grew, and grew.

They looked up.

A red dot rapidly became a red blur that rapidly became the form of Carface. Dinah grabbed Helena by the shoulder, pulling her back with her. The metal-man hit the asphalt with a sickening cacophony of scrapes, crunches and clangs. Misfit appeared beside them, arms crossed in satisfaction.

'Care to do the honours, Canary?' Huntress asked as Carface struggled to his feet again. 'You had first dibs, after all.'

'Gladly.' Dinah grinned. 'Might want to stand back, ladies.' She dug her feet in.

Carface looked at her with the expression of one who knows pain is in their future. She opened her mouth, letting out a sharp, high-pitched, continuous screech. The force cannoned into the beaten villain, sending him flying into the building behind him. He didn't move this time.

Barbara swore over the comms.

'Thanks for the warning Dinah. Gonna have to recalibrate these things for your cry…again.' She muttered.

Helena was rubbing her ears, grinning weakly.

'Forgot what a big mouth you've got, girl.'

Dinah punched her arm lightly.

'So, what now, tell the boys in blue what's what?'

'Not exactly.'

'What?'

'We're not exactly popular with law enforcement here, get yourselves out of there.' Barbara ordered. 'And you Charlie, you get back to class.'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' The teen drawled. 'Bye Dinah!'

Dinah waved as she teleported away.

'I'd better get back too.' Helena murmured.

'Yeah, I heard you're a teacher now, how's that going?'

'Kids.' She muttered, head in her hands.

'Oh come on, you've been through worse.'

'Well…there was this one time the criminal syndicate who run this town led us into a trap, and one of them took control of Zinda's plane and attacked us, or when the Joker recognised Babs-'

'The Joker?!' Dinah blurted.

'Helena!' Barbara interrupted, sharply.

Helena suddenly felt she was in the middle of something she shouldn't be as Barbara cursed again over the comms and Dinah stared at her in disbelief.

'I…I've gotta go. Later Di.' She shot her grappling hook onto the roof of the school, zipping out of sight.

Dinah ducked into a nearby alley as the police closed in. She clambered up a nearby drainpipe onto a roof until she had room to breathe. Barbara had been silent. Dinah paced the rooftop, mind spinning.

'The Joker?' She asked again.

'It was nothing really, I handled it.'

'It was the fucking Joker. The Joker came after you, alone. Were you going to tell me?'

'He only recognised me as Barbara Gordon. I said I handled it. The Joker's smile'll never be quite the same.' Even Dinah could hear the hint of satisfaction in her voice.

'He's the one who….who put you in…he did that to you, Babs. Did you know he was here when I came by with Manhunter?'

'It doesn't matter Di, I don't see what-'

'It matters to me.' She cut in, sharply.

'…Dinah…' Barbara began. 'It's not your fault, you weren't here, you couldn't-'

'I wasn't here. I wasn't here for you and I should have been. I wasn't here when…_he_ came after you.'

Barbara opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. Dinah was clearly troubled over her decision to leave, moreso now she knew what she'd missed.

Dinah mistook her silence for blame.

'I don't know what I was thinking, that I could just come back and we'd be cool. I must have been out of my mind…'

Barbara blinked, pushing her thoughts aside.

'Dinah will you just shut up a minute and listen?' She sighed, rubbing her eyes. 'I don't blame you.'

'Barbara…'

'We need to talk. Come back to CS and…' She chuckled. 'I'll put the kettle on.'

Dinah looked across the rooftops toward Clocktower Systems with a sigh.


End file.
